On Dec 8, 1997, for the 17th anniversary of John Lennon's death, John Taylor went to the Strawberry Fields Memorial in New York City's Central Park. He kindly sent photos of his trip to share with all Bagism visitors. If you've never been to the memorial, hopefully these photos will give you a pretty good idea of what it's all about.

Dec 8, 1997 at Strawberry Fields

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In addition to the photos, John Taylor also provided this report of his day at the Strawberry Fields Memorial.

"It's hard to comment about something that's almost indescribable. I think
what is most special about the day I spent there was that I saw so many
young people singing Beatles songs. Ones that weren't even born yet when John
left this world.

"One day I was sitting there and and a
father came walking by with his two children. One of them asked what
that was for (referring to the tile). He brought the children and had
them sit down and explained to them what it meant to him. He went through
the lyrics of the song Imagine and they were totally amazed by what he was saying.
I knew that they would grow to be some really wonderful people.

"There is
something about the words that John gave us that bring out the best in
people. And on October 9th and December 8th, everything really comes to a
head, a point when a multitude of dreamers gather together for a day of
peace, love and a whole lot of singing. There are people of all races, ages, creeds and
everyone is equal no matter what. Throughout the year, Strawberry Fields is
pretty much like that. There are letters, postcards, flowers and all kinds of
stuff left there. There's a lot of positive energy that flows around and it
catches on and brings out the best in all that accept it."